May 20 - Don’t Just Assume It Will Work Out

In Meditations, Marcus Aurelius takes a moment to remind himself of the “malice, cunning and hypocrisy that power produces,” and the “peculiar ruthlessness often shown by people from ‘good families.’ ”

Even though you’re well educated, and you’ve done well for your family, and you’re not some monster, there are no guarantees that you will pass these laudable traits down to your kids. Life is full of temptations. Bad habits and bad influences are easy to fall prey to. Look at Marcus Aurelius’s own children. Marcus and his wife were calm and wise . . . and still, something went wrong with his son and heir Commodus, who was deranged and a terror for the empire—exactly as bad as Commodus in the movie Gladiator. Or worse.

The point of this is: just because you’re successful, just because you can pay to send your kids to the right schools, just because you showed up more than your own parents, doesn’t mean you’re out of the woods. This is a hard job we’ve committed to. The stakes are high. The margin for error is low. Kids don’t just “turn out” as good people. They are made that way—molded, guided by ancestors, taught by example, and buoyed by a constancy of parental presence.

You must provide all of this. You cannot slack. You cannot assume it will handle itself. They need you.

May - Character Is Fate (Lessons In Right And Wrong)